The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of South American Argentine ornamental mesquite known botanically as Prosopis Alba. The new variety will be name xe2x80x98Cooper.xe2x80x99 COOPER AMAZON is a Trade Mark applied to the variety to indicate the source of origin thereof.
The new variety was discovered by me in 1987 from a field of 600 Prosopis Alba trees planted in grow bags in a field at our nursery in Mesa, Ariz. Five of the field were noted as being thornless and were potted into 15 gallon containers. During 1990, the five thornless Prosopis Alba were moved to our nursery (Cooper""s Wholesale Nursery) in Pima, Ariz. and planted in a row running north and south, to the south of greenhouse #3. The designated Prosopis Alba mother tree #1 was planted at the north end of the row.
In 1992, at Cooper""s Wholesale Nursery in Pima, Ariz., asexual reproduction of the new variety xe2x80x98Cooperxe2x80x99 began when I took 200 cuttings from Prosopis Alba mother tree #1, of which 6 rooted and grew. These 6 trees were planted in containers. Two years later in 1994, I took 100 cuttings from the best tree of the 6 trees that rooted and grew from the cuttings of 1992. From those cuttings, 5 rooted and grew. They were put in containers for further growth.
In 1997, I took 50 cuttings from the best tree of five trees that rooted and grew in 1994. From these cuttings, four trees grew. The source tree along with the four trees were placed in 20 gallon containers. All five trees were examined and found to exhibit the thornless characteristics of the Prosopis Alba mother tree #1.
From 1997 to 2000, the five Prosopis Alba clones grew and maintained the same characteristics of the Prosopis Alba mother #1. In 1999, seeds were gathered from the Prosopis Alba mother tree #1, planted and grown for root stock in preparation for budding using the five Prosopis Alba clones. In 2000, 250 root stock were budded using 50 buds from each of the five clones. The root stock was divided into five groups of 50 trees each. A 98 percent take in the buds was achieved.
The growth habit of the budded root stock was observed to be exceptionally vigorous, typically reaching a height of 10 cm in one week from the pop of the bud. After two weeks, an average of 20 to 25 cm of growth was recorded. This rapid growth habit continues until a height of about 102 cm is reached at which time branching begins to occur. The diameter of the trunk of the budded root stock trees was observed to increase at approximately the same rate as the increase in height. As a result, none of the young Prosopis Alba xe2x80x98Cooperxe2x80x99 mesquite trees required staking. All of the 245 trees exhibited the same characteristics as the mother tree #1, including the lack of thorns.
In 2001, 500 trees were budded using the five Prosopis Alba clones plus one tree from each of the five groups of budded root stock. The growth habit for the 500 trees was the same as that exhibited by the group of 245 trees grown in year 2000. All of the aforementioned asexual propagation activity occurred at our nursery in Pima, Ariz. Due to the rapid growth of the young trees, none of the Prosopis Alba xe2x80x98Cooperxe2x80x99 mesquite required staking. All of the trees were thornless. This characteristic is in marked contrast to the common Prosopis Alba which has thorns up to 8 cm in length.
The tree of this new variety is unusual for the species in that it possess a rapid growth rate and matures to larger stature tree than any known thornless Prosopis Alba Argentine mesquite. Further, this new variety is thornless with no occurrences of thorns taking place over a period of sixteen years encompassing multiple generations of the Prosopis Alba xe2x80x98Cooperxe2x80x99 mesquite.
The mature tree reaches a height of about 25 feet with a canopy of 40 feet and a trunk diameter of about 45 inches. Lack of water did not effect its growth habit. The new variety is characterized by large and numerous leaves. Thus, the new variety provides an excellent shade source with minimal care for the desert environment.
The total absence of thorns further enhances the attractiveness of this tree for use in populated areas.
The new variety is hardy having experienced lengthy and hard freezes. Weather patterns having high winds including a tornado resulted only in a stripping of the leaves. No damage to the branches or trunk was noted. The Prosopis Alba xe2x80x98Cooperxe2x80x99 has demonstrated exceptional strength in a wide range of adverse weather conditions.